Newly patented packaging design for personal care, food and other bottled and tubed products allows consumers to use more and waste less.

Inventions can originate in a number of places ranging from universities to garages and, in the case of brothers Sebastian and Rashon Velmont, a shower.

“My co-inventor Rashon hopped out of the shower with a partially emptied conditioner bottle in his hand and shouted my name,” recalls Sebastian. “He held the bottle up to my face and said ‘we need to invent a bottle design that allows you to reach every last drop of this conditioner’ and I replied, ‘I’ll start working on it.’ I created a prototype that day and filed a provisional patent the following week, and five years later, without legal assistance, our self-executed utility patent No. US20180334296A1 was granted on January 15, 2019, for Dispensing container with interior access. Packaging Digest has been our key resource throughout this patent process.”

Key points about the invention:

“The patent provides frustration-free packaging for consumers, sustainable packaging for the environment and distinctive packaging that can set brands apart from competitors,” says Velmont. “It is applicable for condiments, toothpaste, car oil, paint, glue and more.”

He responds to more questions in this Q&A.

What makes it better than current alternatives?

Velmont: We are providing a solution to a common consumer problem in a familiar way. Consumers may cut open their lotion bottles at the center to get the last drop. However, we’ve provided a bottle design that allows the consumer bottle to now be opened from its center and closed, locked, and sealed to reach and preserve any remaining content once it reaches the bottom of the bottle or if its stuck along the interior bottle walls.

What polymers or materials could be used to manufacture the bottle?

Velmont: Our Utility Patent was created for standard polymer consumers lotion, conditioner and condiment bottles, but our patent claims allows our Utility Patent features to be appropriate to any dispensing container material. That can be a glass lotion bottle, stainless-steel water bottle, paper shampoo bottle; our patent claims applies to all forms of rigid materials.

What are appropriate bottles sizes?

Velmont: From a $120 one-ounce bottle of La Mer Foundation to a club store-size 4-L condiment bottle, our proprietary claims can be applied to all variations of bottle sizes and designs along with squeeze tubes because every last drop counts, especially with high-end cosmetics.

Our proprietary claims applies to all shapes and sizes of dispensing containers as there is no specific size or dimension that requires our functionality more than another.

What’s the status and what’s the next step?

Velmont: Our Utility Patent was approved and now we are hitting the ground running. Our overall goal is to license our proprietary claims to FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) companies to make this a new industry standard.

It was astounding for us to learn that, combined, African Americans and Hispanics make up less than 2% of patent holders in the U.S. along with women who hold only 12%. As African Americans we wanted to find a way to inspire more innovation among people of color, so we are currently seeking out College Engineering Departments to work with us to develop our prototypes. A prototype that can prove to Consumer Packaged Goods Companies that investing into our design can be cost effective, makes packaging frustration-free for consumers, provides a sustainable solution for effective recycling and can make their brands packaging stand out amongst others.

A portion of our future licensing royalties will go towards their engineering program to inspire more innovation, especially among women and people of color.

What’s the takeaway for our audience of packaging professionals?

Velmont: Our innovation is not only for getting every last drop of content out of your lotion, conditioner, condiment, glue, and paint bottles, it can also be used to improve your cleaning experience with water and baby bottles with its ability to be opened from the center by the means of our proprietary hinge. You could place your water and baby bottle in the dishwasher for a more thorough cleaning. Furthermore, our proprietary claims can be applied to squeeze tubes as well.

Beyond U.S. approval, we have also been granted International Rights to file it in more than 150 countries.

For further information, contact the co-inventor at [email protected]

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